What are the lyrics to Bangladesh’s national anthem?

7 September 2023, 17:31 | Updated: 18 September 2023, 16:22

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

Discover the century-old national anthem of Bangladesh, which was inspired by a period of unrest in the country.

The Bangladesh National Anthem, ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ directly translates as ‘My Golden Bengal’ and is an ode to the motherland.

Written in 1905, the anthem was composed during the first partition of Bengal, an area located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and today divided between India and Bangladesh.

Songs like ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ were written during this period in order to rekindle the spirit of a unified Bengal.

The lyrics first made an appearance in September 1905 in a Bengali literary magazine and were written by Rabindranath Tagore, a poet who also wrote India’s national anthem.

Read more: What are the lyrics to India’s national anthem?

Amar Sonar Bangla | Bangladesh National Anthem | Lyrical Video

These words were then set to music and published in a journal. The melody is credited as being adopted from the musician Gagan Harkara’s song, ‘Ami Kothay Pabo Tare’. The instrumental version heard today was arranged by Bangladeshi musician Samar Das.

Despite being written in 1905, ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ was only adopted as the official national anthem in 1971, the same year Bangladesh claimed independence from Pakistan.

In 2014, to celebrate Bangladesh’s independence day, hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens came together to break the Guinness World Record for the most people singing a national anthem simultaneously. An astonishing 254,537 singers gathered at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka, Bangladesh and the event was attended by the prime minister.

Read more: What is a national anthem and why do we sing them at sporting events?

Guinness World Record by Bangladesh-Millions singing national anthem-Amar Sonar Bangla

What are the lyrics to Bangladesh’s national anthem in English?

My Bengal of gold, I love you
Forever your skies, your air set my heart in tune
as if it were a flute,
In Spring, Oh mother mine, the fragrance from
Your mango groves make me wild with joy-
Ah, what a thrill!
In Autumn, Oh mother mine,
in the full-blossomed paddy fields,
I have seen spread all over – sweet smiles!
Ah, what a beauty, what shades, what an affection
and what a tenderness!
What a quilt have you spread at the feet of
banyan trees and along the banks of rivers!
Oh mother mine, words from your lips are like
Nectar to my ears!
Ah, what a thrill!
If sadness, Oh mother mine, casts a gloom on your face,
my eyes are filled with tears!

What are the lyrics to Bangladesh’s national anthem in Bengali?

Amar sonar Bangla,
Ami tomay bhalobashi,
Ciradin tomar akas, tomar batas, amar prane
Oma amar prane, bajay basi.
Sonar Bangla, Ami tomay bhalobasi.
O ma, Fagune tor amer bane ghrane pagal kare, mari hay, hay re
O ma, Fagune tor amer bane ghrane pagal kare,
O ma, aghrane tor bhara ksete ki dekhechi ami ki dekhechi madhur hasi
Sonar Bangla ami tomay bhalo basi, ki sobha, ki chaya go ki sneha,
ki maya go ki acal bichayecha
bater mule, nadir kule kule.
Ma, tor mukher bani amar kane lage suhar mato,
mari hay hay re ma,
tor nadankhani malin hale, o ma, ami nayanjale bhasi.